I agree that the best time to start building content is before the wolf is at the door but here’s my take on why now is still better than tomorrow …

As advertising proves less effective for many businesses they will begin to cut their traditional advertising budgets. Some of that budget will simply be shelved, for some there’ll be no budget to speak of and for others it will be reinvested in other forms of marketing.

For those who are shelving it or reinvesting it, I would say that a proportion should be dedicated to creating content. They’re not likely to go from no content to 100% content marketing overnight but a gradual shift in focus is certainly a start.

In terms of cost, custom content usually stacks up pretty well against advertising costs. A customer magazine can easily cost less than a spot at a trade show – a well-conceived blog (and help writing it) can be achieved for as little £4-500 a month.

For those with no budget at all then the options are even clearer – either do nothing and hope things improve or get started creating content in-house now.

Tough times have a habit of bringing things into sharp relief – for me the current economic gloom is a perfect excuse to start pitching more long term solutions.

Great analogy, short, to the point and everyone knows the background story which reinforces your argument. The only problem is that when times are good, many people rely on the ‘house of straw’ marketing when they should be investing in bricks just in case there is a ‘wolf’ coming in the future. By the time a recession arrives (and this one has arrived quickly with very little warning) in may be too late to start trying to build your content because of the investment in time and money required.